Warrior 2

Only be careful, and watch yourselves closely so that you do not forget the things your eyes have seen or let them fade from your heart as long as you live. 
-Deuteronomy 4:9

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!
-Paul, second letter to the Corinthians (5:17) ​

Life sometimes feels like a balancing act, doesn’t it? We are constantly in the thin places between past and future, younger and older, stressed and joyful, old and new. It’s difficult to figure out how to stay rooted.

There’s a pose in yoga called “warrior 2.” You stand with your feet spread apart. One arm extends back. The other arm reaches forward. But the lean and the gaze is important. In warrior 2, the weight is on the front leg, leaning forward, and the eyes look ahead. Yet the hand reaching backwards extends fully and remains open. 
I’m not much of a yogi, but let me tell you, the balance is hard. It’s easy to look like like a sleep-deprived surfer rather than an artfully balanced sage. ​

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The posture is intended to be a physical symbol about receiving from one’s past, yet remaining fixed on one's future. 
Jesus can teach us some things about discipleship from such a position. 

It’s difficult to know what to do with our past-- both recent and distant. Some of us are haunted by pain, difficult experiences, or bad decisions. We’d like to forget about our past altogether. Others of us are ambivalent or nostalgic about our past, and we either don’t think about it much, or we lean longingly back, wishing for the good old days.

That’s the temptation. We want to forget or we want to dwell. Neither helps us become like Jesus. Unfortunately, we rarely seek to reach back with an open hand to receive the gifts of the past. 

As God’s people were being formed, wandering through the desert, making new mistakes, and becoming a people— they were constantly encouraged to remember the past. To remember both their own frailty and God’s faithfulness. Making note of those moments would give them strength to keep going, and give them compassion for others who were in the thick of difficulty. 

But in the New Testament, Paul is quick to remind young Christians that they can get stuck in the past- and that is not where our focus should be. We have been made new in Jesus. In this new world, there is no place for shame. We leave behind old stories and pick up a new one full of grace and hope for the future. 

What if we were more intentional about learning from the past so that we might be formed for the future? God can use everything to help us be formed- including painful events that we’ve walked through. And our past mistakes (the ones that we’d usually like to forget) can even become a cause for celebration. 
Why? 
Because now you see it. 
You do realize that, right? 
Seeing that it was a mistake….is growth. You have new knowledge now! You are not the same. Grasp that new insight with gratitude, and do something with it as you lean and reach forward with Jesus. Take hold of the overwhelming grace of God that was, is, and will be available to you always.

Do you dwell on the beautiful moments of your past? Be filled with gratitude at those moments and the influence of others in your life who faithfully led you there. Let it be a tool to learn how to press on and faithfully love others. Let it spur you to new depths with Jesus. 

As we learn a healthy balance between our past and our future, it may be helpful today to ask these questions: 
Do I invite God to teach me from my past, or do I simply dwell on mistakes or glories? 
Am I waking up each day seeing myself as a new creation in Jesus and living expectantly, or has the weight of life kept me from leaning into the future with hope?  

If you’re looking for a way to prayerfully look back over each day with God and you’re unfamiliar with the prayer of Examen, try it out. 

Jesus, help me learn from everything in grace. 

Peace,
Keith

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